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The I Ching and Schizophrenia

peacecat

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Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this site (and what a great site it appears to be!). I was first introduced to divination through the Tarot cards when I was twelve and later briefly moved on to the I Ching. In my mid twenties I began hearing voices but they were positive and helpful. I became schizophrenic when I was thirty six and then the voices became negative and overwhelming. About a year before that my positive voices instructed me to study Carol K. Anthony's A Guide To The I Ching (along with translations of the I Ching). I did this and had a good year learning to be modest, patient and persevering. Then I received several years of Shock with the development of schizophrenia. At first I consulted the I Ching compulsively and tried to foster my budding delusions but this soon failed to work and I set the I Ching aside. I've only just returned to consulting the I Ching now that I'm more stable and much happier. I've tried asking the I Ching to clarify schizophrenia but repeatedly am guided to wait for a definition, that I need to wait for nourishment. Have any of you had experience with mental illness and has the I Ching guided you towards a clearer understanding of it for yourself or a loved one? An account of any instances would be most welcome.

:bows: Wanderer62
 

heylise

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I have only experience with asking 'about' someone, in order to be able to live with that person, and not become overwhelmed myself. For me the Yi has functioned as a kind of manual. He was an artist, and his impulses were hardly ever negative, just extreme. As if he lived in myth (real myth, the kind of mythology and the depth of the mind) instead of normal daily life.

The Yi has been a huge help, explaining a lot to me. Sometimes lifting my spirits up again out of deep pits, other times showing me that I was just shortsighted, or explaining what he meant, or comforting me when it was too much. Very often making me laugh, bringing my sense of humor back as a way to deal with things.

It was as if the Yi spoke the same language as this man did, but in a way I could 'feel'. Putting him in the right, and at the same time making it possible for me to understand and deal with it.

A question which the Yi usually answers in a very clear way to me, is the kind of "what IS this". Usually giving a description of what was not clear to me. Without giving advice, just clarifying. Giving it a name and a place.

No idea if this is of any help

LiSe
 

hollis

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wanderer62 said:
Have any of you had experience with mental illness and has the I Ching guided you towards a clearer understanding of it for yourself or a loved one? An account of any instances would be most welcome.

:bows: Wanderer62

The answer is: yes.

Mental Illness and the I Ching is a taboo subject for many. Truth be told, there should be a forum for people working with their mental illness, and using the I Ching to help the way out.

Stories to tell, it is endless.
 

peacecat

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heylise said:
A question which the Yi usually answers in a very clear way to me, is the kind of "what IS this". Usually giving a description of what was not clear to me. Without giving advice, just clarifying. Giving it a name and a place.

No idea if this is of any help

LiSe

Hello LiSe,

I think the reason the I Ching answered you clearly about your friend was because you were coming from a more detached perspective. For me, when I ask "what IS this" about schizophrenia I don't usually get a clear answer or rather an answer that I'm detached enough to appreciate. Though I believe with a bit more time and patience I may yet receive a clearer answer. Part of what I need to resist is the desire for an immediate solution to my problem. Schizophrenia is a complex illness and it's logical to assume that any answers about it might also be complex. I'm only just returning to the study of it, so I know that when the I Ching says "Wait" , that I should try to wait.
I'm just interested in connecting with other people now and that's why I asked for personal accounts. Thanks for sharing yours.

:)
 

peacecat

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hollis said:
Mental Illness and the I Ching is a taboo subject for many. Truth be told, there should be a forum for people working with their mental illness, and using the I Ching to help the way out.

Stories to tell, it is endless.

Yes, I'm superficially aware that some people are quite skeptical about using any form of the occult when trying to treat mental disorders, especially from other schizophrenics. I do believe that one needs to have a certain amount of emotional stability in order to consult the I Ching,without it one tends to go in circles and get all worked up. But I agree that there should be a forum for people to responsibly use the I Ching as a form of therapeutic treatment for mental illness. A forum such as this is an excellent start for me because there are many seasoned veterans of the I Ching able to give wise counsel.

I would love to hear some of your stories. If you don't want to post them here, feel free to email me.

:bows:
 

peacecat

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snowman,

Thanks for the link. I read through the thread and could identify with some of it, mainly the feeling of getting overwrought when consulting the I Ching about a highly emotional issue. And I do agree, when that situation arises, it is best to take a few steps back and wait the negative out instead of going to the I Ching. I see the I Ching as a guide and not a cure-all. We all have to ultimately work out our own problems with help, yes, but not with unhealthy dependence. This I learned through much trial and error but I think it is a valuable lesson.
 

peacecat

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hollis,

Earlier today I checked my profile and found that email wasn't going through, so I changed the setting. So if you do decide to email me with some stories, you can now. Sorry about the mix up.
 

peacecat

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I'm afraid people might be put off by my disclosing that I'm schizophrenic, so I consulted the I Ching at this site. My question was: "Should I pursue this community?" The response was--Hexagram 48, The Well with a moving line on 3 transforming into Hexagram 29, The Abysmal (Water).

The Well

(Wilhelm) The Judgement: The town may be changed,
But the Well cannot be changed.
It neither decreases nor increases.
They come and go and draw from the well.
If one gets down almost to the water
And the rope does not go all the way
Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.

My interpretation: One community can be exchanged for another but the I Ching (a well of nourishment) cannot be changed. It remains constant whereever I choose to go. The people in this community "come and go and draw from the well", it is a communal place.
If I can't reach into this well "it brings misfortune".

The Image: Water over wood: the image of The Well.
Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work,
And exhorts them to help one another.

My interpretation: In order to emulate the superior man (woman) I must encourage the people here as they study and strongly urge others to help me and each other.

Line 3: The well is cleaned, but no one drinks from it.
This is my heart's sorrow,
For one might draw from it.
If the king were clear-minded,
Good fortune might be enjoyed in common.

My interpretation: Each of us is a well in our own right. I offer my well to the group but no one really takes advantage of it. I have worked hard to clean my well and I have nourishment to offer. If those who could be helped by me (and visa-versa) took up my offer "Good fortune might be enjoyed in common."

Transformation into The Abysmal (Water)

The Judgement: The Abysmal repeated.
If you are sincere, you have success in your heart,
And whatever you do succeeds.

My interpretation: As long as I remain sincere some people will respond to me.

The Image: Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches its goal.
The image of the Abysmal repeated.
Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue
And carries on the business of teaching.

My interpretation: Going with the flow leads to success. In emulating the superior man (woman) I walk "in lasting virtue" and I get to teach something valuable.

Part of Legge's translation: K'an here repeated, shows the possession of sincerity, through which the mind is penetrating. Action in accordance with this will be of high value.

My interpretation: I am sincere and through sincerity I can reach some people. This is valuable.

Recently I have gotten the Abysmal repeatedly and there is this repeated idea of the value of teaching what I've been learning through my personal experience of schizophrenia and through the I Ching. Last week I began a blog called Yin And Yang.
The address is: http://Wanderer62.blogspot.com There's also a link to it in my profile. Please feel free to check me out and see if I have anything to offer you. I know I am not the only one who has suffered from mental illness and I may be able to guide you and I'm sure some of you could guide me. For those of you who are not mentally ill you may find a new perspective opening up to you. And my perspective on the I Ching will probably be familiar to most of you.

Thanks.

:bows: Wanderer62 (Kate)
 

hollis

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hi

Wanderer, I was away all day, unable to write, I will pm you.
 

hollis

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wanderer62 said:
My interpretation: Each of us is a well in our own right. I offer my well to the group but no one really takes advantage of it. I have worked hard to clean my well and I have nourishment to offer. If those who could be helped by me (and visa-versa) took up my offer "Good fortune might be enjoyed in common."

Transformation into The Abysmal (Water)

The Judgement: The Abysmal repeated.
If you are sincere, you have success in your heart,
And whatever you do succeeds.

My interpretation: As long as I remain sincere some people will respond to me.
:bows: Wanderer62 (Kate)

I am glad you are here. And would like to add more to this subject over time, as it comes to me.
 

peacecat

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Okay hollis, I'll tune in tomorrow. Thanks for the reply!
 

snowman

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w62, always glad to help. :bows:

I may not be able to relate but I'm sure I can learn something useful from your experience. Take care. :)
 

RindaR

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You show great courage here. Please do continue. These posts are archived, and even if no-one benefits now, someone may come along later and be lifted up by your work. There are many names and labels for problems that people experience, and it has been my experience that "there ain't no such thing as normal"....

Rinda
 

philippa

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Hello Kate,

Welcome to the forum.

I have no direct experience with the illness but somehow I can relate to your experience. I've personally struggled with how to sort out my thoughts ("imposed" by my "superego" so to speak) and my intuition and have found I-Ching (as well as Tarot) a good tool for clarification.

Please continue to post your experience with I-Ching. Based on the number of people who have viewed this post thus far, I suspect you have generated quite a bit of interest on this forum already.

Philippa
 

rosada

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Yes, welcome Kate!

Thank you for introducing this topic.

I had a friend with schizophrenia and so asked for myself some time back for the I Ching to clarify what was this behavior pattern. I received 28.3.4.5. - 7. At the time I interpreted this to mean

7. The Army refering to the general need to keep all one's thoughts in order. 28 Discribing this as an overwhelming task.

28.3
The ridgepole sags to the breaking point.
Misfortune.

One feels there is no one else one can rely on for advice, or that no one can understands. Thus one is forced to make all decision on one's own. It's too much. Too great an awareness of all that can go wrong. Thus the paranoia. In my friend's case, his father died when he was ten, he had to provide for the family and he had no one to turn to. He never recovered from the feeling of the weight of the world on his shoulders.

28.4
The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune.
If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating.

I saw this as meaning my friend should get professional help.
But unfortunately, he never did, because of the expense - paranoia about money was one of the key manefestations of his illness.

28.5
A withered poplar puts forth flowers.
An older woman takes a husband.
No blame. No praise.

He seemed to get better late in life anyway. Perhaps because eventually even he could see he was no longer was responcible for everything.
He actually married an older woman who took very good care of him. He continued to be overly causious all his life.

I don't know if any of this fits with your experience. In my case, it seems the person was extremly intelligent and tried to think his way out of all of life's difficulties with the result being that at first he seemed to tap in on help from his unconcious, but ultimately knew too much, knew all the horrible things that could go wrong that ideally a Father would have been able to protect him from even knowing about. His wife seemed to offer some of the protection he had been seeking.

Anyway, if this reading I got for my friend on the "illness" has any relationship to your experience, it would make sence that the I Ching would answer your questions by suggesting you wait a bit to receive answers. Like getting strong in your ability to discern when it is your Inner Knowingness that is speaking to you and when it is the random bits of information we are better off not knowing about.

I hope I have not stepped on any toes with this story. I am just trying to share here what I have experienced with the I Ching and the illness. I don't imagine that I have any insight into what your experience has been and I hope that nothing I have said is out of place.
 
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peacecat

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Thanks for the support snowman! We all can learn from each other I'm sure and hopefully I'll see you around (so to speak).
 

peacecat

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rinda said:
You show great courage here. Please do continue. These posts are archived, and even if no-one benefits now, someone may come along later and be lifted up by your work. There are many names and labels for problems that people experience, and it has been my experience that "there ain't no such thing as normal"....
Rinda

Thanks to you too Rinda. I hope people do take up this topic because I think it's an important one and you're right it may help someone out down the line, so I'm glad these threads are archived. This site is so big it's going to take me a while to go through the archives myself but I'm sure it'll be worth it. Yeah, being "normal" is overrated by some.
I'm with you, we're all a mixture of stuff.

:bows: Kate
 

peacecat

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philippa said:
Hello Kate,

Welcome to the forum.

I have no direct experience with the illness but somehow I can relate to your experience. I've personally struggled with how to sort out my thoughts ("imposed" by my "superego" so to speak) and my intuition and have found I-Ching (as well as Tarot) a good tool for clarification.

Please continue to post your experience with I-Ching. Based on the number of people who have viewed this post thus far, I suspect you have generated quite a bit of interest on this forum already.

Philippa

Hi Philippa,

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, I think we all have to work through our own process to find the answers we seek. Ultimately, we're all the same. It's only fear that blocks the way for both the mentally ill and mentally well alike. Fear is often what causes misunderstandings between people. But, as Carol Anthony repeatedly says in her book A Guide To The I Ching: "Misunderstandings are the prelude to understanding." At least I hope so. Thanks for having an open mind.

:bows: Kate
 

peacecat

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rosada said:
Yes, welcome Kate!

I hope I have not stepped on any toes with this story. I am just trying to share here what I have experienced with the I Ching and the illness. I don't imagine that I have any insight into what your experience has been and I hope that nothing I have said is out of place.

Hi Rosada, thanks for the welcome and no, of course you haven't said anything wrong and I can relate to your story and interpretation. Thanks for sharing it. I, too, have received The Army when asking about my schizophrenia. It was very helpful to be reminded of that. I'll have to look into that futher because now I'm trying to find which hexagrams most apply to mental illness.

I'm glad your friend found someone to be with though he didn't lose his paranoia. I'm fortunate in that I stopped being paranoid after about three years and most of my delusions have gone partly, I'm sure,due to the fact that the anti-psychotic meds have been working for me. I still have voices but they don't run me down the way they used to and I can live with them. They can also be loving and supportive, actually much more now that I'm better.

I really appreciate your comments and you DO have insight.

:bows: Kate
 

peacecat

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First, I want to thank everyone for the warm welcome and support. It means a lot to me.

Today I was trying to think up questions to ask the I Ching about mental illness. Here are five questions I came up with:

1. What is the motivating force behind mental illness?
2. How can it be overcome?
3. What are the therapeutic effects of the I Ching?
4. Which hexagrams most describe mental illness?
5. What would most benefit the group to know about mental illness?

First I asked the fourth question and got Hexagram 1, The Creative with a moving line on 3 changing into Hexagram 10, Treading (Conduct).

This confused me right away. The Creative seems to be the most powerful and positive hexagram. It represents the Sage or God. And I thought, what does that have to do with mental illness?

The moving line describes the superior man working very hard during the day, during a time of danger and feeling anxious at night but no blame. As it turns out this could refer to me because I've been working very hard to decipher the responses I got to the questions I asked. I only asked two questions but I have a feeling that the other questions came into play in the divination and made the whole thing much more complicated than it needed to be.

Then the Creative changed into Treading (Conduct)--this is the image of the weak pressing on the strong but the strong not minding (youngest daughter (lake) and father (heaven)). I thought perhaps this was the Sage refering to me again, but still I didn't get a connection to the initial question.

I didn't understand this so I consulted the oracle again with a different question: what would most benefit the group to know about mental illness? I got Hexagram 26, The Taming Power of the Great with moving lines on 5 and 6 changing into Hexagram 5, Waiting (Nourishment).

The first thing I read was from the Wilhelm translation: "The Creative is tamed by Ken, Keeping Still." What struck me was that I was again being led back to the study of The Creative. And I wondered whether the Creative could be the cause and cure for mental illness. To me, that's an extraordinary thought. Stephen Karcher in his fully revised I Ching (which I just happened to get a week ago) writes of the Creative which he calls Force: "Force describes your situation in terms of the primal power of spirit to create and destroy." (2002, p.86) This is the power of heaven to create balance and happiness or to destroy it. Perhaps the way to overcome illness is both by being guided by the Sage (the Creative) and also by taming the Creative through Keeping Still. This could also be a reference to the importance of varioius kinds of meditation, including consulting the I Ching.

Both moving lines are very favorable, especially the sixth line. The fifth line says (Wilhelm) "The tusk of a gelded boar. Good fortune." Part of the comment is "Thus also where men are concerned, wild force should not be combated directly; instead, its roots should be eradicated." Or perhaps, when it comes to mental illness it has to be dealt with at the root and not left to grow and flourish. This could be a reference to taking medication or getting therapy and thereby neutering the illness making it no longer dangerous.

The sixth line is "One attains the way of heaven. Success." I read the lines sequentially. Thus, if you eradicate the illness through medicine, therapy, consulting the I Ching you become healed: "The time of obstruction is past. The energy long dammed up by inhibition forces its way out and achieves great success." This is the best of news, that mental illness can be "eradicated" and one can attain "the way of heaven" and return to sanity.

That's as far as I got, though the resulting hexagrams of Treading and Waiting could both be ways of overcoming mental illness. Still, I'm pretty lost. Maybe some of you could shed some light on these hexagrams and their moving lines? Or try asking the I Ching one of the questions above and see what you get and let us know? I may be too close to the questions and one of you may have a clearer perspective. But I do think it's a valuable endeavor to understand the roots of mental illness and how to overcome it. It may be of great help to others to explore this topic. For myself, I think I will continue to consult the I Ching about this, just one solid question at a time...next time.

:bows: Kate (the Wanderer)
 

Trojina

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Its important to remember the term 'mental illness' is assuming a medical model for itself. Bear in mind people esp women were considered insane in the past if they simply did not conform to their social role. And I think alot of what is termed 'mental illness' is actually quite a sane (though not very useful) response to ones situation. I'm thinking of 'illnesses' such as depression here, perfectly healthy people are even now being prescibed mind altering drugs because they are unhappy, or even just tired. I know several people recently who complained of tiredness and were immediately prescribed prozac recently, when they insisted they were not depressed it fell on deaf ears.

I'm not saying depression as an illness does not exist only that I'm not quite comfortable with the blanket term 'mental illness'. What are called 'illnesses' can have pretty strong relation to social conditions at the time, ie look at anorexia now at an all time high - in the west, yet very rare indeed 300 years ago. This is not an organic illness as such, must be in part a kind of shared response, some may say rebellion to social pressure to be thin.

On the other hand I understood the one illness which is pretty organic is schizophrenia. In my studies some time ago there seemed pretty strong evidence, twin studies etc that there was indeed a genetic basis for it, which could be bought out by certain stressors in the environment. If schizophrenia is an illness with a very physical component, ie genetics, brain chemistry then I guess the Yi would be as helpful in explaining/helping with it as any other illness.

If however one was asking about depression Yi might address the causes rather than the depression as an entity in itself ?

I guess what I'm saying is the line of questioning you take above means nothing to me with the blanket term 'mental illness' because I don't believe in this blanket term. Makes more sense to me to be specific, ie ask about schizophrenia not 'mental illness' .
 
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rosada

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Thoughts on your answer to "What is the motivating force behind mental illness?"
I see 1.3 - 10 as being in line with what I received earlier refering to my friend who became so paranoid trying to foresee and provide for every eventuality. 1.3 suggests someone who is active all day and then at night, rather than being able to "let go and let God" their active brain invades their unconcious and continues to try to make everything right, probably doesn't sleep well. So I think the the I Ching is saying "mental illness" comes from a desire to do too much, to think too much, that crowd's out the abiliy of the unconcious to function. "Control freak"? Hex. 10 suggests to me the need to know what's important and what's not in order to have a strong mind.

26.5 Talks about restraining the impetuous forward drive. Thus not looking too far ahead to problems that may never happen.

5.Waiting "The superior man eats and drinks, is joyous and of good cheer." Again, staying present in the moment, enjoying the good in the moment, and not rushing ahead, or getting out of sync with What's Happening Now.
 
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peacecat

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trojan said:
Its important to remember the term 'mental illness' is assuming a medical model for itself.

I guess what I'm saying is the line of questioning you take above means nothing to me with the blanket term 'mental illness' because I don't believe in this blanket term. Makes more sense to me to be specific, ie ask about schizophrenia not 'mental illness' .

Hi trojan, you're probably right. I was just trying to be inclusive of other mental problems, though really I know very little about anything other than schizophrenia and depression (which tend to go together). I'm really refering to any psychological problem that interrupts the healthy flow of life and I guess that would include depression and anorexia. Anything that blocks the positive and fosters the negative (as in "bad"). I want to know what causes such an inbalance, how the I Ching perceives it and would go about rectifying it. But I do think you've made a good point, namely, that I should stick with asking about what I'm familiar with, i.e. schizophrenia.
 

peacecat

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rosada said:
Thoughts on your answer to "What is the motivating force behind mental illness?"
So I think the the I Ching is saying "mental illness" comes from a desire to do too much, to think too much, that crowd's out the abiliy of the unconcious to function. "Control freak"? Hex. 10 suggests to me the need to know what's important and what's not in order to have a strong mind.

26.5 Talks about restraining the impetuous forward drive. Thus not looking too far ahead to problems that may never happen.

5.Waiting "The superior man eats and drinks, is joyous and of good cheer." Again, staying present in the moment, enjoying the good in the moment, and not rushing ahead, or getting out of sync with What's Happening Now.

Rosada, thank you for your insightful interpretations. In terms of untreated schizophrenia there is definitely this sense of wanting "to do too much, to think too much", to go on overload. It's kind of like letting the unconscious roam too freely in the conscious mind. In fact, a common problem for schizophrenics is not getting enough sleep which is one reason taking the meds is so important. Without the proper down time there is a confusion about what is important and what is not and there is this "impetuous forward drive", envisioning all kinds of things which have no basis in reality. About Waiting: I learned the hard way to come to appreciate the small things in life--sunlight, a hot cup of tea, my cats, nature, a good poem, the ability to walk (I knew someone who became a paraplegic and after that learned not to take walking for granted). And the I Ching is teaching me the incredible value of learning to wait for the right moment and not rush ahead, not keep stepping on the Tiger's tail to the point where the Tiger turns around and bites.
 
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bruce_g

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I went completely nuts (is that an official medical term?), and into the deepest pit of depression I could have ever imagined, and then a relapse about a year later. Yi was extremely helpful in guiding my way back out and into the life of the living again. But it wasn’t Yi alone which helped. It was also dreams and dream interpretations, and a couple of supportive friends that didn’t wash away in the flood were also helpful to getting my feet squared up on the ground again. I’m still nuts, but at least I’m happy now. :p
 
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bruce_g

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On meds and treatment, I can’t recommend what someone else should do, but I can state with accuracy the following: I was on antidepressants (Prozac and Paxil) for 5 years prior to the meltdown, with not a single counseling session during that time. Very big mistake on both my part and my doctors’ part. Recovery for me began when I went off of them cold turkey. Again, I don’t recommend this to anyone, but it is as it was for me. As Trojan said earlier on this thread, doctors are prescribing serious psycho altering drugs for fatigue, and any number of ailments, that they are either too lazy or unknowledgeable to explore. Oh, and lets not forget Ritalin for our misbehaving children. Of course I’m not saying these medications have no suitable purposes, but covering or stuffing our thoughts and emotions isn’t one of them. Imo, therapeutic counseling should be a mandatory companion to these sorts of medications.
 

peacecat

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bruce_g said:
On meds and treatment, Imo, therapeutic counseling should be a mandatory companion to these sorts of medications.

Yes bruce, I agree. I was in counseling for three years before I began taking the anti-psychotic meds, though I was taking Prozac, and I found the talk therapy was incredibly useful towards releasing tensions and getting a better perspective.

People vary widely when it comes to the taking of medications for psychological disorders. Some are devoted to the meds and others practically call them poison. In my case, the meds really helped and continue to help and I thank God (the Sage?) for them. But I've also heard that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is also very good for treating schizophrenia and other illnesses though I've never tried it myself. Hopefully there will continue to be more research done on the effectiveness of therapy. Each person is unique, the main thing is that we should be free to choose.:bows:
 
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bruce_g

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Hi Wanderer,

I must say, I really like your approach to the Yi and to your wellness.

Yes, I hoped not to imply you shouldn’t take what works for you, nor to downplay the realness of such conditions.

There’s things to be experienced by going down into the pit, things someone can’t really understand until they’ve been there. How can anyone understand debilitating depression if they’ve never been severely depressed? Friends told me, the reason I was going through it was so that later I could help others who are going through it. That’s the last thing I wanted to hear back then, but in small ways it turns out to be true. The best one can learn from recovery of any kind is to be available to assist in another’s recovery.

People I know who are in similar states of recovery all seem to come out of it with a pearl of some kind; something they didn’t have before going in. You’ve probably found yours, or maybe it has found you. I wish you good health, a sound mind and a heart to help.

Bruce
 

peacecat

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bruce_g said:
There’s things to be experienced by going down into the pit, things someone can’t really understand until they’ve been there... The best one can learn from recovery of any kind is to be available to assist in another’s recovery.

People I know who are in similar states of recovery all seem to come out of it with a pearl of some kind; something they didn’t have before going in. You’ve probably found yours, or maybe it has found you. I wish you good health, a sound mind and a heart to help.

Bruce

HI Bruce,

Thanks so much. It's really the I Ching that's got me finally reaching out to people. A few weeks ago I asked the I Ching what was my greatest obstacle to spiritual growth and received Fellowship With Men with no moving lines. I knew what it meant right away because the I Ching had scolded me a few days before for being so isolated. It wasn't telling me that being with people was the obstacle but the opposite. So I started a blog and happened to find this site and I'm very glad that I did both. I'm hoping to help others out the way I was helped when I was hurting so badly. I think I've found more than one pearl.

May you be well: safe, healthy, happy with "a heart to help". Thanks for that last bit, I'll include that in my prayers.

:bows: Kate (the Wanderer)
 

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